kina grannis

i recently discovered kina grannis and i'm in love! i bought her cd on amazon today and cannot wait to get it in the mail! check her out. i love all of the songs on the album, but here is one i adore. enjoy!

life lately

holy moly. a lot's been going on in my life lately. i've sorta been an emotional wreck. my bf, quinton, decided he wanted to serve a mission for our church (read about that here!). i'm so proud of his decision and it's a blessing to know that dating me influenced that decision. but, as a result, we decided it was best to break up and just remain friends in order to allow him to be free of any kind of distraction as he prepares to serve. it was very hard to cope with when we first talked about it, but it's been a few weeks since we chatted about this and then it's been almost 2 weeks since we "broke up." it wasn't really like most break-ups. we broke up for a good reason, not a bad reason. i'm grateful for the opportunity i had to go out and visit him in utah and spend time with him before we broke up and said our goodbyes (we had a very sweet goodbye)-i most likely won't be seeing him for a while. living in separate states made our relationship very hard too, so this is probably for the best. but, i'm grateful to have dated him for 2 months. he was the sweetest boy to ever come into my life thus far. he showed me what true love really is and he was so devoted and caring to our relationship even though distance made it hard. he certainly left me with some happy memories. also, thanks to q, i grew so much (spiritually and emotionally). i thank God everyday for blessing him in my life, even though it was only temporarily. this loving, kind and smart boy is going to make one of the best missionaries i know. i can't wait to write him and hear about his experiences. i'll certainly never forget the first love of my life.

in order to cope with all of this, i've been trying my best to stay busy. there are certainly moments where i feel empty inside and i really miss him, but i do my best to stay positive and be grateful for the fact that he is still apart of my life even though it may not seem like it right now, initially, because we aren't dating, he still is a wonderful friend that i want to stay in touch with. to keep busy, i've been working at my dad's office (he's a doctor) as a receptionist part-time. it keeps me busy and i make lots of moolah that i need to stop spending haha. ;) i also have gotten involved with an amazing animal organization called pasado's safe haven! i also recently decided that i want to start volunteering at a food bank near my house. i feel like giving of my time to serve my community is a great way to stay positive, especially during a time where i've been a bit sad.

i've also been spending a lot of time with my friend, cassie, taking photos. my best friend, madi, and i have also been hanging out a lot too! when i'm not out and about it seems like i'm either online shopping, reading blogs, or watching netflix haha. i like to play zelda from time to time too!

below are some pics i took with cassie a few days ago at the point defiance rose gardens and the botanical conservatory in tacoma! enjoy xoxo

current craves

i want a pair of birkenstocks so bad. like, i never thought i'd say this, but they are basically really rad.

oh what i'd do if i owned this skirt. a skirt covered in flowers. like that totally screams "kellyn."

i love the look of a dreamcatcher on a wall. it adds such a unique touch to a room.

i'm really digging these iPhone cases. check out this gal's site. she's a cool cat.

i love a simple denim top. want want want.

i've been into these long, flowy maxi cardis lately . so elegant. 

i need to update my church wardrobe. i love flowy a-line skirts. totes adorbs! i love anything yellow too.

that is all. xoxo

my weekend

holy cow did i have a marvelous weekend! i hope y'all did too.

on friday, i got to hang out with my pal, cassie! we ate grilled cheese and tomato soup, watched hilarious youtube videos like this lovely little gem ;) we also took some totally adorable photos and had some good chats. she's a fabulous friend and i'm grateful to have her in my life! i also got to attend a mat kearney concert on friday evening with my best friend of 12 years, madi! we had such a fun time! mat kearney was fantastic. gosh i love his voice and how he carries himself as a person. he really engaged the crowd. i was in need of a good concert. hopefully i can attend more concerts soon!

on saturday i planned out my primary lesson (i teach the 7 year olds with my dad) and i just relaxed and started watching new girl and i read a little (currently reading i know why the caged bird sings by maya angelou, a fave of mine). new girl is fantastic! i love zooey deschanel. quinton and a few other peeps have mentioned to me how i remind them so much of jess in new girl/zooey deschanel and it really is an honor. :) then, saturday evening, my parents and i went to the old spaghetti factory (one of my fave restaurants). soo yummy. i got the mizithra cheese and browned butter pasta and a salted caramel italian soda. delicious! then i chatted with my boy on the phone saturday evening. we had a good long chat. i truly am blessed to have quinton in my life. as hard as it is to maintain this relationship from a distance, we are doing the best we can and i am grateful he is willing to still love me even from a distance. i'm so excited because i get to go visit him in utah at the end of this month. i cannot wait!! :)

today i attended church with my family and taught my primary class with my dad! we had a fun time. i love teaching children. they make me smile and laugh so much! i cannot wait to be a teacher one day. it'll be a lot of work and not easy, but the fact that i'll get to spend time with children all day long makes it that much more worth it. after church i came home, ate a delicious dinner with the 'rents (it was fast sunday, so i definitely devoured my dinner ;) ) and then i've just been relaxing in my room ever since. i wrote a letter to my dear friend, dylan, who's serving her mission in arcadia, california! i also took a nap ( i love naps so much)! now, as i write this post, i'm patiently waiting for my boyfriend to call and for my mom to finish making my favorite dessert, orange brownies! the recipe can be found here. they are out of this world amazing.

peace out, friends!

me and my girl, cassie ;)

count on me by mat kearney (one of my fave songs!!)

i fell in love and i fell hard

my apologies for not posting in months. college certainly kept me busy, but i'm proud to say that i finished my first year of college off strong and i'm now a sophomore at utah state university! i even passed math 1050 which i was so worried i wouldn't pass. thank the lord i did!

but, i have some better news i'm more eager to share...*drum roll please*... i have a boyfriend and boy, am i the luckiest girl in the world. over the past few years i've crushed pretty hard on various guys. i've gone on dates with different boys, but i've never dated anyone seriously. quinton (yes, isn't his name just rad?!) would be the first! how we met and how fast we fell in love is a pretty interesting tale. a little over a month ago he and i matched on tinder and the funny part about this is that 1) tinder is something most people don't take seriously. it's a dating app, but i was just using it jokingly. i was never intending to score myself a boyfriend. 2) his tinder bio stated that he doesn't usually initiate conversation on tinder (when you get a match on tinder, you can message the other person) and he totally messaged me first so that basically made me smile a lot.

anyways, we messaged on tinder for about a day. our conversations were very genuine and long. we were just getting to know each other. he started the conversation by stating how i had "an amazing taste in music." ladies and gents if there's one thing you should know about me, it's that i value listening to good music and whomever i date must share a similar taste in music. this boy and i share a very similar taste in music which makes me so happy! after chatting on tinder for about we day, we decided it'd be easier to start texting so we exchanged numbers and we've been texting each other daily ever since! our text conversations in the beginning were crazy long. we're talking multiple paragraphs. :) it was great though! we learned so much about each other before our first date a week later. yes, a week later. also, can i mention that he lived over an hour away from logan, utah where i attend school? he drove all that way to come and take me on a 12 hour date. our first date consisted of indian food, cuddling and holding hands, seeing oculus, a long walk, delicious italian food, good music and a long drive, and he attended lds institute with me.

our first date went really well. we clicked so well. it's as if we had known each other for ages even though we had only been texting for about a week. after our first date we discussed the potential for us to date seriously, but we felt like we needed to go on a few more dates before we could define our relationship. so, we continued to text daily after our first date and then the following week we spent 3 days together! tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. on wednesday we shared our first kiss and said "i love you" for the first time. after those 3 beautiful days we spent together, we were official.

yes, as you may have already guessed, quinton and i are in a long distance relationship. sort of. quinton plans on hopefully moving out here to washington this summer to work (he's a barber- sexy, right?) and go to school, but he's also trying to decide if he should serve an lds mission. we're definitely in a pretty complicated relationship, but we are so determined to make it work. we are madly in love. we talk on the phone and text every day that we're apart. this past week quinton came out to washington to check out some barbering jobs and look at places to live. we had so many lovely adventures while he was out here. we went to seattle and tacoma, went on many long walks, spent time at my house (and he even met my parents and they love him). we even got in a car wreck with a somalian taxi driver who was on his knees begging quinton not to call the cops. it was a pretty memorable experience hahaha.

as crazy as this relationship may sound, it works for he and i and we couldn't be happier. i certainly hope he's the one. it feels so right. everything between us comes so naturally even though we don't get to be with each other, physically, every single day. he is so kind, caring, a good listener, loving, smart, and a faithful member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints. he's also super duper handsome. ;) and he has an amazing voice. he loves to sing! he apparently even sings opera music at the top of his lungs in his underwear at home from time to time (woops, tmi? hehehe). he's all that i could ask for in a guy and more. i'm madly in love with this boy. so, yeah! that's our love story. ;)

pic from our first date!

pic from a few days ago when he came out to visit me in washington! aren't we just the cutest? ;)

toodles! xoxo

Dylan

A few weeks back (over Christmas break), my very good friend, Dylan, visited me in Washington for an entire week! We met each other at Utah State University and became the best of friends. I seriously love that girl.

We did oodles and oodles of fun things including taking a trip up to Seattle where we checked out Pikes Place Market, the infamous gum wall, and ended our day with some shopping on Capitol Hill! Dylan and I also enjoyed a picnic and pictures at one of my favorite parks, movie marathons, and a visit to my cabin. We also got the chance to chill with my pal, Chase, and we went and saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (which was fantastic), enjoyed dinner at Steamers, and had a game night at his house.

Overall, we had a splendid time together! I'm so grateful to have met her and have her in my life. She's one of my best friends whom I love dearly. In a little less than a month, she'll be serving an LDS mission in Arcadia, California! She's gonna be a fantastic missionary. I'll certainly miss her though!

Here are some pictures from our trip, below. Enjoy :)

Right after I picked Dyl up at the airport! 

Chillin with the Pikes Place pig! (pictured from left to right: Madi, Dylan, Ali, and me)

We're trying to be artsy fartsy ;)

Dylan and I with my parents!

VSCO

So, I made a VSCO grid which is basically a really cool place to display all of one's pictures! I love it. Y'all should check it out.

Here's the link: kelosaurus.vsco.co

Also, here'a  few pics from a photoshoot today with my friend, Cassie!

Peace out xoxo